Of the group of area girls volleyball teams taking part in various Section III semifinal matches last week, Westhill, carrying the top seed in Class B, had the best chance to get to the championship round – and proved to be the only one who got there.
Against no. 4 seed in Phoenix in one Class B semifinal Thursday night, the Warriors avoided the frustrating fate of its neighbors, taking little time to put away the Firebirds in a 25-6, 25-15, 25-18 sweep to improve to 16-1 on the season.
Melissa Newcomb put away 16 kills and earned four aces, with Delaney Martin adding seven kills and eight digs. Bridget Lougen and Montana Gedney had six kills apiece as Mackenzie Martin earned 32 assists, an average of better than 10 assists per set.
The other Class B semifinal pitted no. 3 seed Marcellus against no. 2 seed Homer. It would go to five sets, but ultimately the Trojans thwarted the Mustangs’ comeback bid to earn a spot against Westhill in next Wednesday’s Class B final at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall.
This one was close all the way through. Homer earned 25-21 and 25-22 wins in the first two sets and were on the brink of a sweep, two points away in the third set – but Marcellus countered, won that set 28-26, and then pulled its own 25-22 decision in the fourth set.
A tense final set saw both teams move within two points of advancing, but with the score 24-24, Homer gained back the serve and pulled out a match point to edge the Mustangs 26-24.
During the long battle, Laura Finn earned 26 assists, five kills and five blocks, while Jamie McLennan had 18 assists and seven digs and Mikayla Catherman did her part, earning 36 digs to keep points alive.
Eimile O’Brien paced the Marcellus front line with 18 kills, five blocks, three digs and two aces, with Kendyll French getting eight kills and 11 digs. Maggie Kianka had seven kills, two blocks, 10 digs and three aces, while Allison Field and Katherine Sauro each had three kills, Sauro adding four blocks.
Homer, to win, needed 46 assists and 17 digs from Meleah Hartnett, while Molly Ulrich had 26 digs and Megan Guerrera got 18 digs. Up front, Gillian McEvoy had 17 kills, with Cary Trierwieller (12 kills), Ashley Lee (nine kills, 20 digs) and Caley Cornwell (eight kills) helping out.
Bishop Ludden, as the no. 5 seed in the Class D sectional bracket, won its opening-round match at Hamilton, the Gaelic Knights taking just three sets to eliminate the Emerald Knights 25-21, 25-22, 25-19.
Key points came from Rachel Martens, who served up seven aces to go with five digs, three kills and two blocks, and Aurora DeShales, who had a team-high five kills.
Shannon Kelly managed eight assists, while Nyla Davis-Robinson and Kristen Panek matched Rachel Martens’ total of three kills, Panek adding six digs. Olivia Martens had three assists, two aces and two kills. Meghan Wilkinson anchored the Gaelic Knights’ defense with nine digs.
This put Ludden against top seed LaFayette in Thursday’s semifinals. Though it won the opening set 25-22, the Gaelic Knights could not sustain that momentum as the Lancers won the next three sets by margins of 25-19, 25-9 and 25-17.
Rachel Martens got seven kills, three aces and two digs. DeShales had five kills, with Kelly getting seven assists and Olivia Martens four assists. Davis-Robinson had three aces, three kills and three blocks.
Rhiannon Abrams paced LaFayette with 35 assists, five aces and 15 digs, helped by Logan Booth’s nine kills and 23 digs and Sophia Powless getting 15 kills and 14 digs.